


The Wolf Among Us

by VonWrites



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-14 04:03:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16485572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VonWrites/pseuds/VonWrites
Summary: Baby’s life seems to be all apple pies and fairy tales in the small town she calls home. With the carnival coming into town she can just feel the magic in the air. But will the local bad boy in town shake up her life for the worst? Or the better? Is he just as misunderstood as she claims him to be? Or is there something dark truly lurking behind his eyes? What if he’s not so much the monster, but the victim in the small town that doesn’t seem so mundane anymore?





	The Wolf Among Us

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dirrrtydeeds](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dirrrtydeeds/gifts).



> This was part of the SPOOKTACULAR WRITING CHALLENGE 2018 created by dirrrtydeeds and wrasslesmut on tumblr. The themes I was lucky to get were Carnival + Werewolf + “Hey. If we make it out of here, maybe wanna go on a date sometime?”. I only now just realized that none of those prompts are in this first part since I had wanted to publish it as a whole fic but as you can see it got really long really fast. Promise all of those prompts will be in the next/final part which will come out soon. I swear. This just got super long and meandering… My bad. God this turned into a mess. But it’s MY mess. Also yeah as you can see I got a lot of inspiration from the Wolf Among Us.

"He's staring at you again. The Freak Show." Peyton was quick to point out as practice was coming to an end.

Billie, who was always by Peyton's side, nearly shrieked with laughter at how ridiculous the situation was. "Looks like someone has a creepy stalker, Baby!"

The subject being "spied" upon was the youngest senior on the cheer squad. A girl as sweet and innocent as her nickname, "Baby".

"We're a group of girls standing in the middle of the football field, he could just be staring in this general direction." Baby, ever the rational one in their group of "popular girls, tried to reason as her eyes couldn't help but glance over to the bleachers. The habitual spot she knew the person in question would be. "And that's not a nice thing to call him."

Jon Moxley was known as the wild card around school. There were all sorts of gossip and rumors about him, most of them Baby was sure were not true, each one more outlandish than the last.

"I heard Mox was born in prison then escaped as an infant!"

"I heard Mox was raised by wolves! Then ate the wolves!"

"I heard he's some underground fight club champion and drug cartel kingpin."

All a bunch of nonsense that none of the kids at school dared to say while he was actually around lurking in the halls.

Today seemed to be one of the rare days he had decided to show up to school. Or at least stake out on the bleachers, smoking a cigarette, and staring dead focused on Baby. The moment their eyes locked onto each other Baby's cheeks flushed a light pink.

"Oh.My.God. Baby has a crush on the freak show!" "Ew!" The iconic duo roasted her.

"I-I do not!" Baby protested a bit too much as her hands waved around frantically to try and prove her point but only made her look more guilty in the eyes of her judgmental friends.

Baby did not have a crush on Jon Moxely. Not anymore. At least that's what she tried to tell herself but in the back of her mind, she knew it was the biggest lie she had ever told.

Maybe for a split second she might have had an inkling of a crush on the boy but in her defense, it was the second grade. She had been a tiny little thing with pigtails and chubby cheeks that were almost always coated with tears. Back then Baby was short for Crybaby and it had made her a target for the particularly nastiness of 8 year old boys...

* * *

_"Ow" and "Stop it!" seemed to be the most used words in Baby's vocabulary since the start of the school year._

_Ever since Baby had been assigned to the same class as the biggest bully in her grade, Brock Lesner, he had made it his special mission in life to make her cry at least once a day. For no reason other than he could._

_Brock was the meanest kid on the playground. Some would have argued that he wasn't really kid but a monster of a thing, just bigger and more intimidating since he had been held back for a year. And just because he could, he would use his size and strength against the weak to make him look even stronger._

_Today he seemed to have been in his famous bad moods as he had been called out during class for failing yet another minute math quiz while Baby had been exceptionally smart for her age and was advancing through levels like it was nothing. Brock didn't take too kindly to that at all and showed it by nearly ripping her hair from her head as he brutally tugged at pigtail at recess._

_He had cornered her behind the jungle gym and the rest of the kids pretended they didn't see or kept away to save themselves from his wrath. Poor Baby was defenseless as she just sobbed in pain._

_"Fuck off Lesner!" A voice shouted across the playground and the next thing Baby knew, both she and Brock were on the ground. Her sight had been blurred by her still falling tears, that her pudgy hands were furiously rubbing away at but as her vision began to clear, she realized that someone had crashed into Brock on purpose and was wildly swinging their arms at the older boy._

_Someone was actually fighting Brock!_

_"Get off you little shit!" The older boy was actually struggling as the smaller body was practically going  feral with rage. It was hard for Baby to make out with all of the movement going on but she could has sworn she saw the bright shade of red. Was Brock actually bleeding?_

_Then just like that, the smaller figure jumped off of Brock, snatched Baby's pudgy hand and ran like a bat out of hell. She had no idea where she was being dragged off too, but anywhere away from Brock had to be a good place._

_It wasn't until the two had stopped near the bushes behind the cafeteria, a place off limits and far from the playground where they were allowed to be in, that Baby saw her saviors face._

_Little Jonny Moxley._

_He was usually so quiet and sat behind her in homeroom. Anytime she would offer to play with him, he always shook his head and refused without a word. But it never got Baby down. Some boys were just quiet._

_Him yelling at Brock might have been the first time she had actually heard him speak and then..._

_A loud sudden gasp came from her tiny body as her eyes went wide and completely startled the boy next to her._

_"You said a bad word Jonny!" She whispered as if even saying the word "bad" was also a naughty thing to do._

_Mox could do nothing but just stare at the peculiar girl. Clearly the two came from different worlds and had different kinds of priorities. All he could do was shrug, it wasn't the first time he swore and it wouldn't be the last._

_"You saved me." Baby hadn't experienced much in her 7 years of living, but from all of the stories she had been read at bed time, she understood the good deed of saving someone in need. Like all the knights in shining armor did for princesses._

_"He deserved it." He once again shrugged but this time with a crooked grin on his face. "I like your pigtails."_

_The two had spent the rest of recess sitting behind the bushes still holding hands as Baby talked Mox's ear off and for once, he was completely ok with that._

* * *

"Um hello? Earth to Baby?" Two Australian voices in tandem broke Baby from her long overdue walk through memory lane as she snapped back into reality.

"What were you doing planning your freaky dream wedding in there?" Billie teased while Peyton messed up Baby's perfectly placed pigtails.

"Come on we got better things to talk about. Like Randy's party this weekend. You're coming right?" The infamous end of the year all weekend long party that was hosted at the Orton house. Every year since their freshman year, Baby had been invited to the celebration and each time she declined the offer for various reasons. The one most important to her was,

"You know I can't. The carnival is in town!" For one month their small quaint town was host to Baby's absolutely favorite thing on the planet, the carnival. The bright lights and sounds, the rides and games, and more importantly the underlying thing that the carnival stood for, freedom.

The idea of being able to travel to wherever, whenever just filled Baby with such romantic notions of wanderlust. It was everything the small town girl had ever wanted.

"Come on Baby aren't we all too old to be this excited about the carnival being in town?" Peyton once again tried to convince Baby to change her mind.

"No way! I love the carnival. There's something about it that just makes everything in town seem more… magical. Everything is more exciting when carnival is in town. It feels like anything can happen."

"You are such a romantic, Baby." Billie sighed as she knew it was useless. There was no changing her mind on the subject. "It's senior year and you are going to ditch the most popular guy in school's party for the carnival." The way she put it made it sound like Baby was breaking some cardinal sin.

"Whatever you do, you're going to have to tell Randy sooner rather than later, because he's coming over here."

Randy Orton was one of the wealthiest and most popular boys in school. He was a star player on the football team and with all that privilege, he could be known as a giant asshole to those he didn't like.

Luckily, though much to Baby's dismay, he liked Baby so he was only ever "nice" to her. But Randy wasn't her type. What girl could seriously want a guy who was a two faced jerk? Orton was just a glorified bully and she honestly never even wanted to give him the time of day. But he wasn't the type of guy you wanted to make an enemy out of so she remained her polite self and always tried to let him down gently.

"Hey Baby, I noticed that creep Moxley has been leering at you. Want me to take care of him for you?"

"It's alright Randy really. He's not bothering anyone. Honest." It was a free country and whatever Mox wanted to do on the bleachers during cheer practice, he was free to do.

"So about my party this weekend-"

"Sorry Randy, you know I can't go. It's tradition that I go to the carnival. If I skip this year it would feel like bad luck. I'm not gonna chance it. It's senior year, who knows where I'll be going to college. I might not have a chance to go to the carnival in the future so I want to enjoy it while I still can." In Baby's mind, the direct approach was the best approach. It was better to nip things in the bud before it got out of hand.

They could all tell that Randy was miffed about being rejected but didn't want to make a scene in public. "Suit yourself." He blew it her off and walked about, visibly more tense than before.

"Come on Baby, let's go change. You still need a ride home?" Billie and Peyton wrapped their arms over each of her shoulders as they escorted her back to the girl's locker rooms. While the two were practically inseparable and self absorbed in their own world, Baby held a special place in their hearts and friendship. For that she would always be grateful and cherish the connection they had.

* * *

"Come on Baby shake a leg. We wanna leave before it gets dark out." Peyton called out to the girl lagging behind who was face deep into her bag in search of something. 

"Shoot!" Baby huffed and stomped her foot in annoyance, an act that was deemed way too cute for her own good as the two girls before her paused. "I forgot something in my locker. You go on ahead, I'll be right out." She reassured the duo before quickly turning on her heels to backtrack to the girls locker room. 

"Come on. Come on. It's gotta be in here." Baby was in deep search for her lost item, her house keys, in the empty girls locker room. It just had to be in her locker. There was no other logical place for her keys to be since she was such an organized and responsible person. She knew where everything was at all times and where they were meant to be. She had a system.

She knew that if Peyton or Billie had come to look for her in the state she was in, that Baby would have looked completely ridiculous as she was practically bent over with her head fully shoved into the metal locker looking into every nook and cranny. She literally could not go home without her keys since her parents were out of town for the next few weeks on business. There had never been an issue with living alone until this very moment. This was so unlike her. 

Her soon to be coming panic attack was startled away into a sudden fright as a loud shrill wolf whistle echoed through the locker room and reverbed around the metal encasing her head while a gravely voice followed.

"And here I was thinking that I'd never be so happy to see a full moon out so soon."

Baby shrieked as she accidentally bumped her head on the top of her locker as she tried her best to stand up straight and make herself look at least somewhat presentable. "Ow." One hand rubbed the top of her head that was sore as her other hand tried her best to cover her butt which had no doubt been on display as she was still in her short skirted cheerleader uniform. Turning swiftly to see the new intruder she gasped. 

"Jonny Moxley! What are you doing in here?! This is the **GIRLS** locker room!"

Mox couldn't help but smirk as he caught the girl off guard. She was the only person in town brave (or stupid) enough to dare refer to him as "Jonny Moxley", something she had done since their fated encounter in the second grade. If anyone else had dared to call him that, Mox would have made sure that wouldn't be able to speak for weeks least of all move their jaw.

"For the last time babe, it's Mox." While the two had lost touch over the years, more his own doing of keeping his distance from her for personal reasons, the occasional conversation during classes when they were partnered up had given them a strange dynamic. To the people sitting close to them they could almost call it flirting. Though the thought of sweet girl next door, Baby, flirting with a boy was the stuff dreams were made of for most of the male population at school. 

"And is this the girl's locker room? Man I must have made a wrong turn at Albuquerque."

With the sore spot on the top of her head beginning to throb, Baby was in no mood for his amount of attitude. "Mox." Her tone was straight and firm as she literally put her foot down, her arms no longer trying to hide her dignity as they crossed around her torso in serious fashion. The boy before her couldn't help but grin at the amount of sugar and spice she had gotten over the years. She wasn't JUST that little pigtailed sweetheart he once had. She was a lot more.

"You dropped this." 

Baby nearly stumbled to catch the small object that had been casually thrown at her. The sound of metal jingling in her hand alerted her to what it could have been. "My keys." 

"Found them near the football field. Went to the parking lot to find you but Randy was there scaring Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Down Under to drive away without you."

The news of that made Baby frown. If Peyton and Billie were gone and Randy was still in that parking lot. "Oh no." She sighed and visibly deflated at the thought. It wouldn't have been the first time Randy had tried to scare someone off at school so he could monopolize her time. He had just never done so with the threat of being her only ride home.

"Yeah he wasn't so jazzed about seeing me there." Baby was ashamed that she had only just now noted Mox's busted lip and faint trickle of blood coming from his nose. It was very clear that Randy had not listened to her plea and took out his aggression on the boy before her.

"I told him not to hurt you." It upset her greatly to know that once again Jonathan Moxley had been involved in some sort of violence on her behalf.

“He can’t hit for shit.” Randy might have acted like a tough bitch but Mox had gotten into worse scraps with men who wanted him dead for less.

“Still… I’m sorry. I never like seeing you hurt.” The guilt baby felt was terrible as she took in the damage. Digging into her bag she took out a clean tissue and steeped forward, making sure her touch was delicate as she dabbed at the not yet dried blood on his face.

“This is just like old times right?” She mused softly and Mox was ever so quiet as he let her dote on him. It was such a strange and intimate form of affection that he had gone so long without. Ever since he had made that vow years ago to keep his distance from her. Why in the world was he breaking it now?

“I swear you used to get into fights with Brock on purpose just so I could play nurse and patch you up.” While she was busy taking care of him, Mox was busy staring at her beautiful face. She was the precious gem hidden in such a rinky dink small town. All glossy hair wrapped in too innocent pigtails and pretty pink plush lips that he had wanted to kiss all the way back since they were seven.

But now was not the time or place to act on his more animal impulses. Not after only just barely reconnecting.

“Baby.” He sighed in content as her feather light touches caressed his face. “I’m fine.” To prove his point, he gave her his signature crooked grin that he had reserved for only her and gently tugged on a pigtail, trying to mess with her perfect symmetry. “Trust me.”

When it came to other people Mox would lie, cheat, and steal his way to get whatever he wanted. But he could never do that with Baby. She was the only one who he could never deceive. Not when those deep doe eyes were starring into his soul.

“Now rumor has it that some terrible haircut having, vaping, daddy’s boy is still hanging out in the parking lot waiting for you.” While Mox hated most of the population of the small town, there was no one he hated more than that asshat Randy Orton.

“Great.” With a heavy sigh, Baby’s hand dropped from his face to reposition her hair. The last thing she wanted to do was go on a ride with Randy.

“So come on. Pack your shit up. I’m walking you home.”

His words had caught baby off guard. Wide eyes blinked in blank confusion as she just stood there staring at him. He kept his cheeky grin for her as he shrugged.

“Unless you want to go on a ride in the douchmobile.” He was obviously messing with her. But it didn’t stop the girl from desperately shaking her head.

“Lead the way.” Now with her newfound keys in her bag, she tried to usher out the boy from the girls locker room. She still had some sense of propriety and prayed no one was around to see the two exit together. The last thing she wanted was for someone to insinuate something crass about her and him. She was considered a good girl after all.

* * *

“Mox how are we going to sneak past Randy if he’s stationed in the parking lot?”

There was no way the two could be so stealthy to go undetected for so long down the walk walk to her house. And if Randy caught Mox anywhere near her, she feared for Mox’s health and safety. 

“We aren’t going anywhere near the parking lot, babe.” Was all Mox explained before holding the door for Baby at the school’s back entrance. “You still live at the end of Luna Lane?” 

“Yeah I’m still there.” She was actually impressed that he had still remembered where she had lived after all that time. The last time he had been to her house was for an impromptu playdate at ten years old where he had shown up at her front lawn looking a little worse for wear but still agreed to play house with her. Those were simpler times. 

“Then stick close and follow me.”

It didn’t take long for Baby to realize where he was taking her. “W-we’re not actually… You can’t actually mean we’re cutting THROUGH the WOODS!” Long since the small town’s origins there had been urban myths and legends pertaining to the woods and how no one should wander through them. Baby’s grandfather often told her stories as a child to never go into the woods for there were dark creatures that would pray on pretty little girls like her. 

She was much older and wiser than she used to be, but there was still an inherent fear of the woods deep in the back of her mind. 

Mox stood at the edge of the lush green woods, the sea of evergreen trees looked so very vast and daunting. There was an eerie calm that radiated from the wood that unsettled Baby, but with Mox there as her main focus, she felt better.

“Have I ever let anything hurt you before?” He questioned her seriously. Her head shook as she didn’t even have to think about her answer. “No.” 

“Would I ever let anything hurt you now?”

Once again her answer was an unhesitating, “No.”

“Baby… Do you trust me?”

It was a simple question but as she stared longingly into his eyes she could see just how much he truly relied on her answer. How he was deep down curious of how much she trusted him. Had she forsaken him like every other person in town?

“I trust you Jonny.” Was all she needed to say before taking a deep breath and marching forward to take his hand. His was rougher and warmer than her soft dainty hand, but as she carefully squeezed his fingers he smiled at how much they both didn’t mind the sweet gesture. 

Carefully leading her by the hand, Mox walked into the quiet wood with no sense of fear or apprehension. His cool calm demeaner brought a secondhand courage to Baby as she took in the picturesque view.

"This is like a fairy tale." She mused as a small squirrel scurried up a tree and a bird chirped in the distance. It was like she was a veritable Disney princess in that moment.

"Yeah? What fairy tale? Little Red Miniskirt? I wouldn't mind reading that one." Leaning back his eyes were glued to that ever swaying skirt that he had come to love since she had joined the team. He was a hot blooded male after all. "Or at least stare at the centerfold…" He mumbled more to himself. Lewd thoughts of Baby in a centerfold pose would definitely be blessing his dreams later that night, he just knew it.

"Isn't it too cold to be wearing that tiny thing?" He quipped, his eyes glued to the pleated fabric hoping to catch another peak of what some of the boys in school had deemed "no man's land". 

"Isn't it too hot to be wearing a leather jacket?" She shot back but as if life was just about proving her wrong, a gust of wind blew past just barely lifting her skirt and bringing a light tremble up her legs, proving his point. 

“Shut up.” She mumbled softly in embarrassment as her cheeks flushed a hot pink and stomped ahead.

It only took her a moment to realize that she had no idea where she had been going and stopped completely in her tracks. She was just about to refer back to Mox for directions when a heavy weight was placed upon her. Immediately she felt warm and secure as her head tilted to the side and saw Mox next to her, draping his signature leather jacket on her shoulders. One of the highest honors imaginable when it came to him. 

“You need it more than I do.” He shrugged before heading off deeper into the woods. It was an absolutely romantic gesture in hindsight. Something a prince would do for his princess. But this was reality. She was just a small town girl and he was her Mox- MOX. He was just Mox. She held no claim on him. He was just doing her a nice favor after being childhood friends. Nothing more.

“Who knew you could be so chivalrous?” She smiled as her arms were pulled through the sleeves of his jacket. Closing her eyes, she was immediately hit with the smell of smoke, leather, and some type of musk that she just couldn’t put her finger on it. But she liked it. It was all Mox and that comforted her. “After all that people said about you.”

“And what exactly do they say about me Baby? For all you know they might be true.” Mox didn’t care what people said about him. People didn’t know shit in that small town of theirs. Especially when it came to him.

“They say you were raised by wolves.” Baby pointed out in a matter of fact tone. She might as well have started with some of the more ridiculous stories.

“Fucking really?” A snort ripped through him as he truly took in that rumor. If only people knew the truth, then they might see the humor in that silly claim.

“What’s so funny?” It had been a long time since Baby had seen Mox be so humored by something. Especially an insane rumor revolving around his upbringing.

“It’s-… it’s nothing.” He tried to shake off his laughter and straighten up as he saw just how curious she was getting from his reaction. 

“Come on. You can tell me.” She begged as she clung to his arm, trying to shake an answer out of him. 

“You sure you shouldn’t be afraid of me little girl? After all I am the big bad wolf.” Baring his teeth out into a silly toothy grin, his arm snaked out of her clutch and grasped her waist pulling her body to his.

“And I’m your Little Red Miniskirt?”

“I don't think I could pull off that skirt as good as you do.” He squeezed her sides playfully. A loud squeal was ripped from her body as he tickled her. "I wouldn't mind pulling it off you though…"

“Mox stop! You pervert!” Her body was wracked with giggles as he held her close.

"Something tells me you don't really mean that." When was the last time that Mox had been free to laugh and play out in the open? What was it about Baby that let him be so… happy?

"You are a pervert." Her voice caught in her throat as he held her tight. She had never been held so close to a male body before and Jonny had grown up from the disheveled boy she once knew. Sure he had been an adorable boy, his dimpled cheeks were something that had her giggling and fawning over at the age of ten but now he had somehow upgraded. Was it possible to still be so cute yet have this dangerous edge that was so ruggedly handsome?

"You know that's not what I meant Baby." His eyes flickered to her pouty lip that seemed to tremble under its gaze. How he wanted to just swoop down and steal a kiss from her no doubt virgin lips.

"Jo-" Just as she was mere centimeters away from whimpering his name again his lips, the sharp snap of a twig alerted the pair almost immediately. 

"Best not stay out here to long." His voice was gruff and low, almost as if he was tense at being both distracted and interrupted at what could have happened.

"To Grandmother's house we go." The tension of what could have been was stifling as she tried to get over her own sheepishness with a joke.

Whatever was between them was now left up in the air, only to be judged by whatever secretly lurked beyond the trees.

* * *

"You still live on the most apple pie, fairy tale block in town." It sounded as though Mox was practically sick of how perfect and picturesque Baby's neighborhood was as they cleared the edge of the woods and found themselves back on the walkway. 

"What's wrong with my neighborhood?" It was difficult to cross her arms as his heavy jacket encompassed her body but she still tried to at least physically look at odds with his comment. 

"Nuthin'. Should have figured a princess like you would be here." He commented as he kept his arm around her shoulder.

"I'm not a princess." She huffed at the insinuation. Normally she would have taken the name as something somewhat charming but right now it just sounded nothing but condescending from him. Where had this change of attitude come from and what did she do to deserve it?

"Cool your jets Baby. When I wanted to get you hot under the collar, I didn't mean it like this." His free hand teasingly straightened out the collar of the jacket she was wearing, a finger just barely brushing over the bare skin that was available to him. 

"I'm just saying... You might, but I don't belong on a street like this." He didn't belong eight years ago, if anything he really didn't belong now after all he had done and was known for. 

"Don't be silly." No matter how much he and other people insisted that Mox was some sort of outcast, Baby knew deep down he belonged. By her side, like all those years ago.

"You're not some town pariah and you aren't the big bad wolf." She stood her ground as she stared him right in the face. "I know deep down, that you're a good guy. That you're kind, caring, and nothing like what you let rumors spread about you say."

Mox's scratched up cheeks were practically burning from the blush that he was desperately trying to will away by her words. 

"How do you know huh? It's not like we kept being fucking besties since the second grade?" There it was again, his gruff and harsh attitude he got to try and push people away. Baby wasn't about to let him do that to her just because he was feeling uncomfortable with the thought of someone being close to him like this.

"You're here right now aren't you?"

Her words seemed to confuse him.

"Huh?"

"If you were really tough as nails and didn't care at all… you would have left me back at school at the mercy of Randy."

The mere mention of that rich prick mad Mox's body tense in pure anger. There was never a way in hell that he was ever going to let that sick fuck pray on Baby. Not while he still lived and breathed. 

"I'd rather die than see you with him." 

And that was the truth. Even seeing that jock near her on a semi daily basis made him die a little inside. If he got his claws into her, he knew that she would be helpless to stop it no matter how hard she would try. She was just sweet a thing and Randy was a monster. It took one to know one. But Randy was a monster of a whole different kind that made even Mox wary. 

"Keep walking Baby. It's getting dark." It was now his unofficial and unspoken vow to keep Baby safe and inside the comfort of her own home. The orange hues of sunset painted the skies and alerted him of the night that was to come.

In all her years of living, Baby had always seen happy couples walk hand in hand or practically in each others arms all around town and wondered if she was missing out on what seemed to be such a normal teenage experience. While she was perfectly content on being single, there was a hint of loneliness in her heart that did yearn to have someone care for her as she saw what she assumed young love was with all her classmates. 

Now as she was being walked home in the arms of the boy that some could have considered her childhood sweetheart, Baby knew what she had been missing, him. Her head subtly leaning against his shoulder while his arm pulled her closer into his side. To any of her neighbors it would have looked like she had finally gotten herself a boyfriend who had done the chivalrous act of walking her home. And the thought didn't seem so bad to her at all. If anyone had been mistaken to it, she wouldn't be so hasty as to correct them. 

There was an almost unbearable tightness in her chest as they neared her front porch. The moment he walked her to that door, their time would be up and she didn't know when would be the next time he would allow himself to be so close to her. With their graduation only weeks away, what if this truly was their last ever moments together? She was thinking about leaving for colleges out of state to explore the outside world and it was honestly a miracle he hadn't run away from their small town life in search for anything better suited for him. 

"You know with you being in your head so much it can make a guy feel pretty lonely." Mox's voice seemed to bring her out of her train of thought. Her dreaded doorway right before her and just like that, her overthinking had been her downfall.

"No." Her voice barely a whimper as her eyes darted between him and the door in such despair. 

"Hey." His warm and rough hand was nothing but gentle as it reached out to take hold of her cheek, keeping her face in direction taking all of her attention. "How about you start using that pretty little mouth you got to start saying what's bugging you?"

"I don't want to say goodbye to you." Deep down Baby knew just how meek and childish she must look as her hands desperately clutched at the fabric of his shirt and she practically clung to him. 

"Who said this was goodbye?" Sapphire blue eyes blinked in downright confusion as he processed her frets and fears. 

"Once I go inside you'll never speak to me again a-and then we'll graduate and move away and it would be like we were never in each other's lives a-and… A-and I don't think I could go through that again Jonny." 

While she was not a lonely girl by any means in terms of her family and friends, no one had been able to make a connection with her as deep as Jon Moxley had at the age of seven. It had broken her poor little heart as a child when he had started to avoid her like the plague. Acting as though she meant nothing to him and never had. He had acted as though she didn't even exist and it crushed her soul.

Mox couldn't stand to see her like this. He never could. It had taken all of his will and power not to run back to her time and time again over the years as she had looked so lost and lonely without him by her side. Over the years she had gotten good at masking the pain and he had thought that over time she had gotten over him like everyone else did in his life. But seeing her on the brink of tears, her voice warbling and whole body shaking with the not yet released sobs, did he know that she had been hurting just as much as he had, if not more. And for that, Mox knew he was the biggest fuck up and the worst bastard in the world. He had hurt the only girl he had ever gave a damn about, and while he had his reasons it still felt like it was for nothing. He was at an impasse. Mox knew his reasons for keeping his distance from her were real but at this point was it worth both their heartaches?

With a heavy sigh, he leaned his head down to press his forehead against her own. A small gesture they once did as children whenever one needed to calm the other. Back then it almost always resulted in the two holding one another in an adorable cuddle and resting in quiet places they could not be disturbed. It was a sweet and intimate gesture that was reserved for only her. 

"I've made a lot of mistakes Baby." He admit with remorse. "The worst mistake I've ever made was hurting you like this."

"Please don't leave me." Again. The unspoken word weighing heavy on both their hearts. 

"I don't think I could, even if I wanted to." 

The knowledge of that being true terrified Mox. Things had been easier as a child, while he had been born and raised in the toughest conditions, he had still been so young and naïve to the true pain and suffering that life could have brought him. Now that he was older, no matter how hard her pretended, he knew that there was some pain that even he couldn't bear to take. Not again. 

"Now get your cute ass inside. It's late." With one final nuzzle of their noses, it took everything in Mox to pull his face away from hers before he once again did something stupid.

All the warmth left Baby's body as she stepped back away from Mox, his jacket just barely sagged off her shoulders before his hands went to stop the falling garment.

"Your jacket-"

"Give it back tomorrow." He was quick to cut her off.

"What?"

"Normally when someone forgets something of theirs at a person's house, it gets returned to them the next day. Right? Looks like I forgot my jacket at your house…" It was Mox's strange logic in telling Baby that this wasn't a goodbye. In his messed up mind, this was a sort of promise, his "see you tomorrow".

"Unless you plan on stealing from me?" The grin on his face was easy and relaxed as the tension between the two slipped away. 

"No." Baby shook her head at just how ridiculous he could be at times. Moods and tones ever shifting, but she never seemed to mind. That's just how Mox was. "I'll return it..."

"Cool. And you know then you can forget something of your own with me… Like your panties, unless you don't wear any-"

His crude joke barely got out before he was swatted in the chest. 

"You pervert!" How many times could she call him that in the span of an afternoon? He must be going for some sort of record. 

"Kidding. Just kidding." He rubbed the spot on his chest where she had hit him for show. 

"We'll figure something out." The two had a lot to figure out and he knew they were due for a very long conversation. But that was better left for another day. One where he can a better handle on his own thoughts and feelings when around her.

"Pinkie promise?" The slender appendage was raised to her lip to kiss before pointed back at him as if she were waiting for him to reciprocate the gesture. Nothing was more sacred than a pinkie promise to Baby, Mox knew that. Some people swore to god or on a bible, Baby preferred her pinkie.

"Yeah. Sure." His shoulders shrugged as he didn't see the harm as he repeated her actions, his dirtier pinky to his still busted lip before hooking it to her own. "I'll see ya, Baby. Promise." To any other person, Mox's word meant fuck all. But there was not an ounce of a lie or deceit when he made his promise to her.

Taking a step back, he let their pinkies linger for a moment before pulling away. Even as he had put a little distance between their bodies it was like there was a magnetic pull that made him want to be back in her arms.

He was just swung his body around and stalked off her front porch when she called out his name, "Jonny!"

Mox barely had time to turn his head before he felt a hand on his shoulder. "You know… You're not as bad as people say you are." Was all he heard before soft lips met his cheek and his strong heart faltered ever so slightly.

"Get inside Baby." He swallowed hard as he tried to calm his nerves. How could such a good girl make it so hard for him to be just as good? He wanted to be bad. He wanted to be oh so bad right now. But girls like her deserved better. She deserved better than what he had going through his sick mind right now. 

One last pretty smile was thrown his way before she was out of his sight and in the safety of her own home. 

"Bad wolf." Was muttered under his breath as he went wandering off into the fresh night.


End file.
